“The Friends of Eddie Coyle” is the anti-buddy cop movie. It’s the opposite of a heist team up. It’s a late in life portrait of relationships maintained through pragmatism alone.
What’s seen in “Coyle” is not a social contract that could be called ruthless, or even malevolent. It is as natural to the environment of the film as the brutalist buildings rising out of the concrete in its greyscale mosaic of Boston.
“Coyle” stands in direct contrast to “The Hot Rock;” a caper flick with a crew of (generally) amicable oddballs also directed by Peter Yates, just one year prior. “Coyle,” instead, features a cast of loners; made so by occupation, character, or just bum fate.
The cast - led…